HOME POLICY REGULATION EU – NEW ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAWS FOR BITCOIN EXCHANGES AND WALLETS?
The European Commission has drafted a proposal to further regulate Bitcoin companies to prevent terrorist financing and money laundering.

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks within the European Union on the one hand and the Panama Papers on the other, the European Commission has presented a draft that aims to change the current anti-money laundering and know your customer regulations. The draft aims to amend EU Directive 2015/849 and Directive 2009/101/EC. Both are EU directives which deal with the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Bitcoin news companies bear the brunt

The new law will put crypto exchanges and wallet providers under the new Anti-Money Laundering Act and the KYC regulations. In the near future, these Bitcoin news laws could be strengthened to force users of crypto currencies to identify themselves voluntarily. Various Bitcoin news platforms that sell debit cards will also fall under the new law.

With this draft, the Commission wants to create an error-free protection against money laundering and KYC regulations, which can enter into force in every member country without great effort. Bitcoin Exchanges and Wallet providers will then be obliged to implement all necessary anti-gender laundering and KYC regulations as prescribed. These Altcoin platforms will then be required by law to report suspicious transactions to the appropriate government.

Bitcoin formula technology gets away with it

So much for the negative consequences for Bitcoin formula. Blockchain companies have a reason to be pleased, however, as the document also stresses the importance of Bitcoin formula developments for companies and governments. Furthermore, it is emphasized that this draft should not have negative consequences for research in the context of Distributed Ledger Technology.

The draft presents some measures to make it difficult for terrorists to take advantage of certain loopholes in the current regulations. It also wants to increase the transparency of financial transactions for both individuals and corporations. According to the draft, activities such as cash payments, trade in cultural artefacts, the use of Bitcoin, other crypto currencies and anonymous debit cards are possibilities to finance terrorism.

The European Commission has prepared this document together with various stakeholders within the EU. EU member states, representatives of the European Parliament, representatives of traditional payment systems, crypto exchanges, wallet providers, other representatives of the crypto currency community, stakeholders of the banking sector and representatives of Fintech companies, financial intelligence units such as the BKA, the European Data Protection Supervisors and various organisations representing consumers were interviewed prior to the draft.

Since the attacks in Paris, some EU member states have called for stricter regulation of crypto currencies. So the current draft does not come as a surprise. Nevertheless, the consequences for the Bitcoin industry should be kept in mind.
The document in its entirety can be read here.

Comment by the author (Philipp Giese):

To me this draft, especially if one wants to justify it with the acts of violence of the last days, seems to be similar to the other big proposals of the brand “stricter regulation regarding killer games”. In the end, it misses the point. Finally, interesting is the benevolent attitude regarding blockchain technology and DLT, which cuts into the classic “Bitcoin no, DLT yes” notch.

Afraid of the summer slump? As temperatures rise, so does the anticipation of your long-awaited leisure time. After a little vacation and relaxation, your fingers quickly itch again to become active and to look for a meaningful occupation? We’ve picked out a few ways for you to get to grips with the topic of blockchain and crypto currencies during the summer.

The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center and the German Tech Entrepreneurship Center jointly organize the “Crypto Startup School”. Over the course of a week, participants have the opportunity to gain insights into relevant topics during lectures, network with others and develop their own ICO business model in a group project.

In addition, the three best Bitcoin formula projects receive prize money and can bring their ICO project to life

ASTRATUM and the ADG jointly run the three-day “Blockchain Summer School 2018” (BSS18). The aim of the Bitcoin formula programme is to provide participants with solid theoretical knowledge and, in particular, practical knowledge, to develop blockchain use cases, to teach the basics for developing their own strategy or concept and not a scam, in order to be able to assess entrepreneurial decisions or investment opportunities.

The one-week summer school in Utrecht offers both theoretical background and practical experience with blockchain applications. Participants will gain insights into the history of blockchain technology and learn concepts such as mining, smart contracts, virtual identity and more. In addition, practical applications are discussed, for example in sectors such as finance, logistics, education and health. The course is aimed at students and interns interested in the theory and practice of blockchains.

Students can get credited according to the Bitcoin trader system

The two-week course “Blockchain Tech” is offered as part of the Summer School CuriousU. In this course the relevant concepts around the Bitcoin trader Blockchain technology are to be mediated. The participants should be able to survive the Bitcoin trader hype and judge for themselves whether the application of blockchain technology makes sense or not. “Blockchain Tech” is structured as a technical course and includes (interactive) lectures and tutorials for practical experience as well as collaborative project work. Knowledge of computer science and computer science is recommended.

Facebook has revised its advertising policies regarding crypto currencies and blockchain so that crypto advertising, with the exception of ICOs and binary options, is permitted again. The news has led to many rumors in the social media, as some see much more in this resolution than just a small change in advertising policy. So how are the rumors to be classified and what implications might they have for the crypto market and its users?

The behavior of Bitcoin profit was and is quite understandable

In order to counter the mass of dubious ICO advertising including Bitcoin profit snowball systems, the Internet giant pulled the rip cord in January of this year and temporarily issued a general advertising ban for the entire crypto economy: https://www.geldplus.net/en/bitcoin-profit-review/ A short time later, Google, Twitter and Instagram joined in and also decided on a no-crypto ads policy. Quite a few had supported this policy, as it had helped to slow down the inflation of scam ICOs and insubstantial crypto products.

The downside, on the other hand, was that serious players have also fallen under censorship. If, for example, a state university wanted to advertise its own blockchain event, this was prevented, as was advertising for snowball systems – exceptions, if any, were difficult to obtain. A situation that cannot be tolerated in the long run, as Facebook itself admits. The guidelines have now been revised accordingly so that companies can now again place crypto advertising if their application is approved.

A Like for the Bitcoin profit

From now on, applications must be submitted to Facebook if you want to place Bitcoin profit advertisements. Although the applications are paperless, not much information is expected from the advertising Bitcoin profit companies – a deliberate hurdle, as Rob Leathern, Product Management Director at Facebook, says: “Within the restrictions, not everyone who intends to advertise will be able to do so. It is unclear how strictly the administrators and algorithms will evaluate and process applications. The processing time is also unknown so far.

If the procedure proves to be practicable and not too costly, this could at least temporarily be a decent compromise between Wild West and censorship. But it’s equally conceivable that the whole process and application criteria will look completely different in a few weeks’ time.

Is Facebook leading the herd?
When Facebook issued the crypto advertising ban in January, Google, Twitter and Instagram followed suit with their own anti-crypto advertising guidelines. This raises the question of whether the other Internet companies will now also relax their policy in line with Facebook. Numerous such posts can be read on Twitter:

Even if official statements are still missing and these are speculations of various people, it is obvious that the other players Facebook will not simply leave the crypto advertising field. Even if ICOs and binary options, which make up a considerable part of the crypto advertising budget, should be left out, the advertising of crypto exchanges alone would generate decent income – money that even the Silicon Valley giants are reluctant to miss out on.

What does this mean for the crypto market?
When the Facebook crypto advertising ban was announced in January and Google followed suit in March, the crypto market reacted with a correction. Of course, other external factors may also have played a role here, but the impulse of the announcement of the resolutions tended to have a negative effect on prices. Conversely, a relaxation of the crypto advertising policy should have a positive effect on the crypto market. After all, the Internet giants reach several billion people who now come into contact with the crypto economy through advertising of any kind. Thus, even people with Bitcoin & Co. who previously had no or only a few points of contact are confronted – a clear hint towards mainstream adaptation.

Nevertheless, the question of independence arises in this context. Where does consumer protection stop and where does censorship begin? Can Facebook really be trusted to provide a largely fair and independent assessment

The digital currency Bitcoin is currently booming again, but the purchase or sale still throws big question marks on the forehead of some users. How do I buy Bitcoins, where do I buy Bitcoins and above all how do I buy Bitcoins most securely are probably the most frequently asked questions that we currently receive.

At the beginning of the Bitcoin boom, the European Bitcoin exchanges dominated the market. But times have changed. More and more European stock exchanges and brokers are taking the floor and offering their services for the European market. One of these exchanges or brokers is the Dutch company Anycoin Direct*. On the German side, buying and selling Bitcoins is very easy.

A large selection of digital currencies for the Bitcoin trader

Anycoin Direct offers its Bitcoin trader, customers the opportunity to buy and sell Bitcoin as well as other currencies (Altcoins). The portfolio of the exchange includes a considerable number of currencies. In addition to the well-known Altcoins Ether (Ethereum), Litecoin, ZCash, Monero and Dash, these also include Gulden and Feathercoin. Check it out: https://www.geldplus.net/en/bitcoin-trader-review/

In an interview with BTC-ECHO, Managing Director Bram Celeen answered the question as to which features make Anycoin Direct stand out:

“Anycoin Direct’s focus is on security, speed and easy and user-friendly trading. Anycoin Direct allows users to purchase any type of digital currency within 5 minutes. After the user has made a purchase and instructed payment, the coins are credited to the specified account (wallet) immediately upon receipt of payment.”

The following payment methods for crypto trader are available on Anycoin Direct:

Giropay, Sofort- und SEPA-Überweisung (Germany)
iDEAL (Netherlands)
EPS (Austria)
or Bancontact (Belgium)
If you have any questions about the crypto trader purchase process or suggestions in the meantime, live support is available to all users here: https://www.geldplus.net/en/crypto-trader-review/.

A detailed tutorial for the purchase of Bitcoin on Anycoin can be found here.

About Anycoin Direct
Anycoin Direct was founded on 01.07.2014 by Bram Celeen (Customer Support & Administration), Lennert Vlemmings (Security & Business Relations) and Julian van der Wijst (Programmer) and initially operated for one year under the name Bitplaats exclusively in the Netherlands and Belgium. But just as quickly as Bitcoin was spreading in Europe, the young company also wanted to grow and expand. So it was time for a new coat of paint – Bitplaats became Anycoin Direct and today every citizen in the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) can trade their digital currencies quickly and securely with Anycoin Direct.

Anycoin Direct is an interesting European Bitcoin/Altcoin broker with great potential. Above all, we like the wide range of products, the fast checkout process, the friendly team and the easy trading very much. But convince yourselves right away.

Since mid-May, the share price has been in a downward channel whose resistance was tested on 21 May but not breached. Support for this downward channel was tested on 23 and 29 May. Currently, the price is trying to test the resistance further and is dancing around the exponential moving average EMA50.

The Ripple price fell this week

Furthermore, the exponential moving average EMA50 represents a barrier for the price. Currently, the price is trying to test the resistance of the existing downward channel.

Overall, the assessment according to the chart is rather bullish. The immediate support is at 0.45 Euro, the next resistance at 0.54 Euro.

In mid-May, Ripple entered a previously stable downward channel. The price tried to overcome this channel twice, but so far the exponential moving average EMA50 has been confirmed as impenetrable resistance. Currently, the price is dancing around this EMA50 and is aiming for another test of the downlink channel. It remains to be seen whether the rebranding of the XRP logo and the associated differentiation between the company Ripple and the digital currency XRP will give the price wings.

The MACD (second panel from above) is positive and rising: the MACD line (blue) is above the signal (orange). Regarding the MACD, the bullish divergence between MACD and price development that has been going on for weeks is also noticeable.

The RSI is at 54 and thus bullish

Overall, the situation is bullish according to the price, trend and indicators.

Support and Resistance
The first support level is 0.45 Euro and is described by the downward channel support. The next support level is 0.39 Euro on the same level as the plateau at the beginning of April.

The first resistance at 0.54 Euro is described by the EMA100. If the price can break through this level, the next resistance of 0.60 Euro will be at the level of the maximum price reached on 21 May.